You said “Yes!” and now the world Has cause for joyous celebration You said “Yes!” and so humanity Is the recipient of God’s salvation.

The Angel Of The Lord, to you appeared As the bearer of Almighty God’s Grace You said “Yes!” and gave the Son Of God to the human race.

You said “Yes!” without a . . . → Read More: You Said “Yes!”]]> By: Jacqui

You said “Yes!” and now the world
Has cause for joyous celebration
You said “Yes!” and so humanity
Is the recipient of God’s salvation.

The Angel Of The Lord, to you appeared
As the bearer of Almighty God’s Grace
You said “Yes!” and gave the Son
Of God to the human race.

You said “Yes!” without a thought
For faith had made you brave
You said “Yes!” and Oh! How much
To human-kind you gave!

A heartfelt ‘Thank you!’ Mary,
Mother of the Christ
You said “Yes!” and with God
We now gladly tryst.

    I cannot help being myself, even when it is embarrassing. As a child, I was a complex individual, but aunts, uncles, grand parents, parents (and pets)  have always been the target of unexpected kisses and hugs around the dinner table, or while reading aloud some chapter of a book of my choice, or just passing . . . → Read More: The Inner Child – Oct. 12, Children’s Day in Brazil]]> By:     Sandra Galeotti

    I cannot help being myself, even when it is embarrassing. As a child, I was a complex individual, but aunts, uncles, grand parents, parents (and pets)  have always been the target of unexpected kisses and hugs around the dinner table, or while reading aloud some chapter of a book of my choice, or just passing by. Well, I’m still a hugger-kisser person and my friends know that well. Lucky, I live in Brazil where such expressions of affection are seldom misunderstood.

    Recently, while in New York I stopped by a childhood friend’s office. The place is owned by orthodox Jews and although there was a lot of them at the reception desk, I took not a single mental note of the fact. When my friend showed up, I simply ran to him and gave him a big hug, before he was able to tell me (in Portuguese) “don’t do that!”.

    Later, he explained that in his work environment demonstrations of affection between people of opposite genders is badly taken and misinterpreted.

    Well, cultural differences and traditions apart, it is so sad that we are taught in every society that our spontaneity is embarrassing and socially undesirable. You are led to believe that the best and more creative part of yourself should be smothered and stifled, if you are to succeed as an adult. In the cynical world of adult men and women, individuals who preserve those better qualities of childhood are often thought to be either stupid or naive. Have you ever noticed that highly creative individuals in every walk of life, as well as those who are true humanitarians, are always criticized by many in his/her inner circle as being naive or dreamers, or even childish?? Conversely, individuals of the cynical crowd (who see themselves as sophisticated) are more prone to be mean, selfish, narrow minded and unscrupulous, while showing the emotional maturity of a five-year old (“mine! mine! mine! hate you!…”)…! 

    Ironically, in recent years, those same societies have eventually discovered that they are in want of true leaders, creative CEOs and managers, science investigators and so on. Isn’t ironical that now CEOs and a bunch of “grown ups” are being sent to workshops where their creative powers and leading abilities are supposed to be rescued by learning how to be a child again? 

    Long live the inner child of each of us!

    Happy Children’s Day!

It’s only the very strong That can WITHSTAND repaying wrong with wrong. There is only one human I know of, Who besides the Saviour, this ability did show of.

In my teenage years, I had the impression The strength of a woman was in her aggression. Newton’s Third Law, I applied in my life exactly, To every action I reacted sharply.

At . . . → Read More: Amazing Strength – Our Lady]]> By: Jacqui
Url: http://jacquiesmusings.blogspot.com/

It’s only the very strong
That can WITHSTAND repaying wrong with wrong.
There is only one human I know of,
Who besides the Saviour, this ability did show of.

In my teenage years, I had the impression
The strength of a woman was in her aggression.
Newton’s Third Law, I applied in my life exactly,
To every action I reacted sharply.

At that point in my life,
The Lady did not impress me.
She was meek, she was mild,
And put her opinion across gently.

My attitude towards her
As I grew in years & wisdom,
Was coloured by the behaviour
Of the protectors of her ‘kingdom’.

Then was released the “Passion of Christ”, by Mel Gibson.
It gave me insight to the Lady’s disposition
Of the movie I remember naught.
Just the strength of the Lady in the plot.

It’s the nature of a mother to curse & swear
Rent her clothes, maybe pull out some hair.
Even put a pox on anyone who,
Dared mess around with her baby blue.

Not for the Lady these histrionics
She bore her pain with stoic silence.
He grief & anguish was plain to perceive
Her blameless Son was being pilloried.

None of her virtues, did in me admiration forment
As much as her LACK OF RETALIATORY INTENT.
This amazing strength, in no other human you’d see
For it was bestowed by God on Our Lady.

Apparently, genuinely harmonious relationships between siblings or between children and parents are not a common feature in families, even in those families which are not dysfunctional by definition. Why is it so?  The modern explanation is that we work too much, have a tight daily agenda and stressful life styles, always under all sorts of . . . → Read More: Family Dynamics & Quality Relationships]]> By: Sandra

Apparently, genuinely harmonious relationships between siblings or between children and parents are not a common feature in families, even in those families which are not dysfunctional by definition. Why is it so?  The modern explanation is that we work too much, have a tight daily agenda and stressful life styles, always under all sorts of pressure. Quality time with children and spouse tend to become one more item in the agenda, a sort of chore or duty to be fulfilled, one more factor of stress. Modern rules are clear about what is expected from parenting: to provide for family sustenance, housing, medical assistance, education (in the sense of schooling), to save money for college, and “to make some memories”. Is that all? Does that make a good parent?  Does it suffice to create a happy, mentally healthy family? I don’t really know. Is there a room for cooperation between children and parents and between the children themselves in that carousel of appointments and schedules to be met? Is there enough time for learning about recognition, mutual acceptance and appreciation of individual differences? Is there room and time for teaching and learning about limits and respect for each other? With everybody so busy (adults and children), is there time enough to really know oneself and really know each other?

Aren’t we just a bunch of people under one same roof, struggling to achieve external goals and meet our schedules, without a chance to pause long enough to simply enjoy ourselves as a family group (except perhaps during vacation time)? It seems that we are never really present but always worrying about how to achieve short and long-term goals.

How can we tell apart our really essential needs from those false needs or desires imposed upon us by cultural/social conditioning and commercial propaganda?  If we understand “desire” as the impulsive drive of the conditioned mind, it is easier to pose the right questions and find out which desires are preventing us from recognizing and attending to our real needs as human beings and the real needs of our children.

One of the most misunderstood aspects of Buddhism is the question of desire. Yes, Buddha Gautama taught that desires are the cause of all suffering, and we can see why, when we start realizing that desires usually are artificial replacements for real needs.  Therefore, we continue frustrated, anxious or afraid after such desires are fulfilled.  But he also emphasized the importance of recognizing and meeting our real needs, whether material whether spiritual. He also said that a married person who takes proper care of his/her family and deals wisely with money and wealth is more valuable than a beggar-monk who is proud of his spiritual renunciation of worldly goods.  I suppose that in this era of virtually super-sizing everything, we all have lost perspective of what really matters to promote happiness for ourselves and our families. Worse still, we are misleading the next generations about their true priorities.

I’m pretty sure that most of us pass through life completely misguided about what love can possibly be. Literature and dramaturgy have misled us into believing that love is a sort of blind, irresistible force of attraction between two individuals that, more often than not, leads to tragedy, disappointment and pain, with a few cases . . . → Read More: What is Love?]]> By: Sandra

I’m pretty sure that most of us pass through life completely misguided about what love can possibly be. Literature and dramaturgy have misled us into believing that love is a sort of blind, irresistible force of attraction between two individuals that, more often than not, leads to tragedy, disappointment and pain, with a few cases of “happily ever after…”  A constellation o fantasies and biological drives are clustered together around this ideal of “true love”, rising expectations, triggering unconscious projections, wishful thinking and yearnings for a magical solution to our own problems, low self esteem and sense of loneliness – “if only we met our soul mate”.

Well, “irresistible attraction” has more to do with the Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC), a gene family that regulates the presentation of cellular antigens to T cells (so the immune system can verify if some alien organism has invaded those cells and start an immune response), than with some mysterious “irresistible” attraction. It is purely physical: the more diverse the genetic sequences of MHC between two individuals the greater the physical attraction, simply because our genes tend to promote genetic diversity in the next generation – a very neat strategy of survival of the species. The more diverse the MHC genes of the parents the more effective will be the immune system of the children. It is all about natural selection and species best chances of surviving and has nothing to do with “love”.

On the other hand, humans have highly social brains, another survival strategy that lies at the base of our need for relationship with other individuals inside our gradually expanding social group, in order to develop a healthy and well-structured brain throughout our childhood and adolescence. Children whose parents are caring and compassionate have a better chance to develop a well-equipped social brain than those whose parents are just “operational” (i.e. just good providers, materially speaking). Hugs and kisses, solidarity and active guidance (meaning boundaries) are proven to be essential ingredients for pituitary production of growth hormone and those other pituitary-dependant hormones involved in children’s healthy physical development and the structuring of a variety of neuronal systems in the brain. So we need a network of relationships during our developmental phase and the adulthood life as well to keep us functional and healthy. In this sense, we can say that love is essential for our species’ survival and that positive emotions are the glue of a healthy social community. Conversely, children growing in stressful contexts (social or family violence, negligence, abuse) tend to suffer deleterious adaptive changes in their developing brains that will program them to deal with cruelty and survive only in a violent world through violence itself. They usually present later in life the same disorders and psychiatric syndromes that affect war veterans and adults exposed to chronic stress and fear (depression, dysthymia, mood swings, panic attacks, hyper-vigilance, aggressiveness and so on).

Therefore, we can say that love and solidarity are good survival strategies developed by humans and other mammalian species, such as elephants, dolphins, whales and apes. In giving and receiving love, care and solidarity we find gratifying rewards in terms of brain chemistry (and reinforcement of healthy neuronal structures) whereas the opposite causes pain, stress, fear, existential terrors (and progressive neuronal cell death and metabolic disorders).

Another evolutionary perk of the social human brain is our ability to communicate with each other in many levels and through different sets of symbols. We communicate simultaneously in two levels, the verbal and the non-verbal, which are mutually complementary and together impart the whole meaning extracted from the interactions between two or more individuals. Moreover, we are able to communicate and interpret our perceptions of “reality” through different forms of symbolic language, such as science, philosophy, art and religion – such is our need to reach each other and establish common grounds for social interaction and to find the meaning of our existence. Sometimes I am left with the strong impression that, as individuals, we are a sort of loose bunch of neuron cells waiting for our turn to be included in some specific neuronal structure of a planetary brain which is still under embryonic development. Perhaps in such inclusion lies the meaning of life that so many of us are seeking for. Perhaps the gratifying sensation of being included in such neuronal planetary structures is what the mystics experience as the state of bliss or universal love – perhaps.

Now, on a one-to-one basis, what we are looking for? “What is this thing called ‘love’?” I do not really know. But I have experienced levels of affinity and deeper levels of communication with some people than those interactions exclusively controlled by the gene-diversity-oriented MHC. Sometimes, they came together (and it was great!), but more often than not, they have come in separate packages.

Who has best described those deeper levels of affinity and mutual communication for me was C. G. Jung. He once said in an interview that “Love is an invisible (and unbreakable, I must add) golden thread that links two hearts beyond space and time.” You read each other’s mind and soul effortlessly – no blurred perceptions there, no misery-exchange dynamics – just deep mutual understanding, appreciation and honest acceptance of what you both are (virtues and flaws included).  Now, I’m convinced that when such Golden Threads happen without MHC playing an additional role, we find wonderful friends, true brothers and sisters of the soul (or psyche). And when MHC also plays a role, we may find one of the many possible loves of our lives. Yes, many. The Golden Thread plus MHC situation is not limited by or circumscribed to a single experience in life. If you are lucky enough, you may bump into more than one GT+MHC situation – hopefully not simultaneously (because it would be excruciatingly painful to choose) during the course of your life. The important and richest aspect of such experiences is that such Golden Threads (plus or minus MHC) transcend death, time and distance. You don’t stop loving those who have died or those that life has sent away from you. You will always love them and they will always love you. You are never alone (and I’m quite sure that there is no such thing as one-way-love – another misguided concept about love – if it’s one-way, it’s not love).

Perhaps Golden Threads (with and without MHC) are the stuff that holds the embryonic planetary brain together as it evolves and grows towards maturation. Perhaps we are just complex organelles of an embryo in development in the womb of a galaxy – perhaps.

Nevertheless, I am certain that we could do a lot better as a species if we only took into consideration in our daily relationships a simple Golden Rule: Do no harm, be as harmless as possible to others and give natural selection a better chance by being a caring, loving and more compassionate person towards both yourself and your neighbors, family and friends.

It was my turn and the hooded elder pointed his gnarled finger at me.  I yawned while waking up from a sound sleep and didn’t want to be bothered.  Suddenly, the door opened in my crystal enclosure and as I peeked out, I could see other people waiting in . . . → Read More: Before Birth]]> By: Bobbie Samuels
(From her book about past lives)

It was my turn and the hooded elder pointed his gnarled finger at me.  I yawned while waking up from a sound sleep and didn’t want to be bothered.  Suddenly, the door opened in my crystal enclosure and as I peeked out, I could see other people waiting in line to be born. Angels were all around us.  In front and to my right was the door we were supposed to enter.  I walked through the door and found myself in a beautiful room glowing with blue light.  My body was shrinking smaller and smaller and I was becoming younger and younger until I reached the baby phase.  With the body of a baby and the mind of an adult, I tumbled toward the earth via a dark tunnel.  There were other entities in the tunnel with me, but I couldn’t see their faces.    Upon entering the earth’s dense atmosphere, I arrived at the mother and fetus the elders helped me pick.  I floated in front of my new mother for a few minutes because I was feeling a little apprehensive.  Should I go through with this?  I could abort?  No, I made a promise to God and it was time to go to work!  I gently entered the little fetus with the help of an angel and fell back into a sound sleep.  Suddenly, there was a jolt!  I was being squeezed through a dark vice and couldn’t breathe!  I could hear loud voices.  I wasn’t happy about this!  Oh no!!!  The voices were getting louder!  There were harsh lights ahead of me and I was cold, so cold.  I could feel the oppressive heaviness of the earth plane around me as I thought to myself, “Oh shit”, I’m back”! I started to cry.

I have worked with Health and Nutrition for several years now.  It is no longer a belief, it is now backed by science!   Our bodies were designed to digest foods that are not processed foods, but real foods.  And now our soils are also depleted of certain nutrients, therefore because we dont take . . . → Read More: Balancing Your Health]]> By: Julie Melby
Url: www.juliemelby.com

I have worked with Health and Nutrition for several years now.  It is no longer a belief, it is now backed by science!   Our bodies were designed to digest foods that are not processed foods, but real foods.  And now our soils are also depleted of certain nutrients, therefore because we dont take the time to make all our own foods and eat 7 veges and fruits daily our bodies have now become depleted of alot of vitamins and nutrients.  Because of this I supplement daily with an Isotonix form of vitamin.  Iso-means the same and tonix-means pressure, it is common sense that for something to be absorbed into our cells it has to have the same pressure on the outside of the cell as the inside of the cell, therefore by taking an Isotonix Supplement,  I’m getting 95% absorbtion rate in 5 minutes, thats HUGE!!!  Nothing else like it. No fillers or binders.  These Isotonix have helped alot of people with their Health Challenges and also being Preventive, for people to have a better quality of life.

The Coptic Church celebrates 32 feast days . . . → Read More: Our Lady of Light: Apparitions of Mary at Zeitoun, Egypt]]> In 1968 in Egypt, Our Lady, Mary Mother of God, appeared in Zeitoun, a suburb of Cairo, Egypt, atop St. Mary’s Coptic Church.  This church is dedicated to the Holy Family, which by tradition is known as the place where the Holy Family rested on their escape from King Herod. 

The Coptic Church celebrates 32 feast days in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The last feast day is April 2^nd and she is commemorated under the title of Our Lady of Light.  It was on April 2^nd that these apparitions began and she always appeared bathed in light.

These apparitions lasted for nearly three years and occurred about two or three times a week, most frequently on feast days and lasting from a few minutes to several hours and were witnessed by about 40 million people of all faith and those of no faith at all.  They usually took place at night and often she was accompanied by luminous white doves that hovered over her.  Often holding an olive branch or sometimes a cross, Our Lady was seen moving among the domes of the church.  At other times, she was bowing before a cross, or blessing the people below.

The apparitions were recorded by numerous photographers, professionals and amateurs alike and also by Egyptian Television itself.  Among those who witnessed these apparitions was then President Abdul-Nasser, an avowed Marxist.  At first some thought this to be some fantastic hoax and the police was sent to investigate.  A 15-mile radius around the site was examined to try and uncover what was causing these lights, but nothing unusual was found.  Her appearance was always public and was witnessed by all people present, believers and unbelievers alike.

There were numerous miraculous healings that took place during this time, which were documented by many medical professionals and were attributed to Our Lady’s apparitions.  Dr. Venice Khalil, an eyewitness to the apparitions expresses her confirmation of the events:  “I am a Doctor, and what I have seen in Zeitoun, I believe.  I cannot explain it through medicine or science, but there were a great number of miracles of healings and conversion of faith.” On the first apparition which took place at 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday April 2^nd, Our Lady appeared on the dome of the Church in a kneeling position, surrounded by light. The first person who saw her was Farouk Mohammed Atwa, a Muslim, and he was due to be operated on for gangrene.  The next day when he went to the hospital for his planned surgery, he was declared completely healed!

The Orthodox Patriarch, Kyrillos VI, formed a commission to investigate the apparitions and concluded that the Virgin Mary did appear at Zeitoun atop the Coptic Church bearing her name.  Those who conducted the investigation observed the figure of a woman surrounded by a “radiant globe of light and accompanied by doves of light” and also observed plumes of fragrant incense.  Moslems, who saw the apparitions, started chanting the Koran’s verse which refers to Our Lady “Mary, God has chosen you, He has purified you, He has chosen you among all women”. 

Although no words were spoken by Our Blessed Mother, she imparted a powerful message.  Hers was a message of peace and true concern for all her children, Christians and non-Christians alike.

Many years ago, when I began my study of metaphysics, I was attracted to the life and readings of Edgar Cayce, famous American seer and healer of the early 20th century. In his readings, Cayce made frequent references to what he called the Book of Life- energetic records of an individual’s every . . . → Read More: Your Book of Life]]> By: Carole J. Obley
Url: http://www.soulvisions.net

Many years ago, when I began my study of metaphysics, I was attracted to the life and readings of Edgar Cayce, famous American seer and healer of the early 20^th century. In his readings, Cayce made frequent references to what he called the Book of Life- energetic records of an individual’s every thought, word and action throughout time. These soul imprints are also called the Akashic Records (from Sanskrit- “sky, space and ether”) by ancient and modern mystics. The records contain the total of the universal experience- humans included- encoded in a non-physical plane of existence- the ethers. Cayce asserted that we write our own book, which is composed from the expressions of both our personality and soul. Past, present and probable future events are contained within the records. When Cayce entered trance to give readings, he accessed the records to retrieve information about individuals, most of who lived hundreds of miles from where Cayce was in Virginia Beach. He did this by being given the name only of the person he was reading. Volumes of information- most of it healing in nature- was given to thousands of people by Cayce’s psychic visits to the records.

Functioning like a giant tape recorder- with never-ending spools of tape- the records can be accessed and read by entering the subconscious mind through meditation, regression and hypnosis. When we pass into spirit, we are shown a life-review from our book and shown the implications of our choices- how they affected us and others. We can then make determinations on how well we did in the classroom of earth. Our blueprints- designs and lessons intended for life made before each incarnation- are also contained within our book.   

In my early experiences as a medium, I became aware of the records when I sat with people who were not the least bit interested in obtaining information from their book; they wanted to know about the future and more practical matters like careers and money. Yet slightly above these clients’ right shoulder were scenes, images and feeling impressions that seemed to be related to the information being discussed. It didn’t happen all the time, but often enough that I questioned its meaning. Intuitively I sensed that I was tuning into another dimension of consciousness- one decidedly not based in the current life, judging from the content of the historical material that was revealed. As I developed trust in what I was being shown, I shared the insights I received with the clients for whom they appeared. Soon, I realized they were directly related to the individuals’ karma- unfinished spiritual business. I gained validation of the accuracy of the insights when people gave me feedback like, “Yes, I’ve always struggled with self-esteem issues. I never knew why. It’s amazing that in past experiences I had the same issue!” and “My childhood was incredibly painful growing up with abusive parents. You mean I planned this to grow spiritually? Maybe now I can begin to forgive and heal- exactly what I planned on doing, according to what I wrote in my book.”

Over time, as I became increasingly comfortable in sharing clients’ Book of Life with them, I’ve witnessed deep healing occur in the process. Since the initial step in healing is awareness, the simple revelation of the origin of long-held emotional issues is often enough to jumpstart the process of understanding and release necessary for healing to take place. Healing means we recognize ourselves as who we truly are-Spirit. The more closely we align ourselves with love and forgiveness, the closer we move to this realization. Cayce believed that we are the sum total of all of our thoughts- an accurate assumption in my experience. What are you currently writing in your Book of Life?